Massachusetts guide to choosing and using curricular materials on genocide and human rights issues

40 Pages·1999·1.9 MB·English

by  Massachusetts. Dept. of Education

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Massachusetts Guide to
Choosing and Using Curricular Materials
on Genocide and Human
Rights Issues
June, 1999

THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
Department Education
of
350 Main Street • Maiden, Massachusetts • 02 148
June. 1999
Dear Friends,
Last year, the Massachusetts Legislature and Governor enacted Chapter 276 of the
Acts of 1998, a law directing the Department of Education to make recommendations
on curricular materials and resources related to teaching about genocide and human
rights. This Guide to Choosing and Using Curricular Materials on Genocide and
Human Rights was researched and prepared by Department staff after consultation with
Massachusetts citizens and historians knowledgeable about genocide and human rights
issues, as well as teachers and administrators.
It is important that students acquire knowledge about genocide and human rights
issues to deepen their understanding of both past and current events. The Guide empha-
sizes relevant material from the Curriculum Frameworks for History and Social Science
and English Language Arts, as well as key documents that are the foundation for the
protection and preservation of human rights, such as the Declaration of Independence,
the Bill ofRights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Convention on
the Rights of the Child.
Please distribute this Guide to educators in your district. I hope you will find it a
useful supplement to the History and Social Science and English Language Arts
Curriculum Frameworks.
Sincerely.
David P. Driscoll
Commissioner of Education
The Massachusetts Guide to Choosing and Using Curricular Materials on Genocide and Human Rights - June 1999
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1
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Background: The Education ReformAct of 1993 2
Teaching about Genocide and Human Rights Issues: Guiding Principles 3
Scope, Sequence, and Developmental Considerations 5
Academic Content: The Massachusetts History and Social Science Framework 7
United States History: Selections from Core Knowledge 8
World History: Selections from Core Knowledge 1
Strands and Learning Standards 13
Reasoning, Reflection, Research, and Content in History and Social Science 17
Connections to English Language Arts 1
Choosing Instructional Materials and Programs
on Genocide and Human Rights Issues 19
The Internet as a Tool for Researching Genocide and Human Rights Issues 21
Resources for Teaching about Genocide and Human Rights Issues 22
Appendix A: Human Rights in the Founding Documents ofthe United States 24
Appendix B: The Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights 26
Appendix C: The Convention on the Rights ofthe Child 30
The Massachusetts Guide to Choosing and Using Curricular Materials on Genocide and Human Rights - June 1999

Introduction
On August 10, 1998 the Massachusetts Legislature and Governor enacted into lawAn Act Requiring
Certain Instructions in the Public Schools of the Commonwealth
.
The law reads as follows:
Chapter 276 of the Acts of 1998
An Act Requiring Certain Instructions In the Public Schools Of the Commonwealth,
The Board of Education shall formulate recommendations on curricular materials on genocide and
human rights issues, and guidelines for the teaching of such material. Said material and guidelines
may include, but shall not be limited to, the period of the transatlantic slave trade and the middle
passage, the great hungerperiod in Ireland, the Armenian genocide, the holocaust and the Mussolini
fascist regime and other recognized human rights violations and genocides. In formulating these rec-
ommendations, the board shall consult with practicing teachers, principals, superintendents, and cur-
ricular coordinators in the commonwealth, as well as experts knowledgeable in genocide and human
rights issues. Said recommendations shall be available to all school districts in the commonwealth on
an advisory basis, and shall be filed with the clerk of the house of representatives, the clerk of the
senate, and the house and senate chairmen ofthejoint committee on education, arts, and humanities
not later than March 1, 1999.
Learning about genocide in history and its persistence into the present day is important for today's
students. Although most students learn about the Nazi Holocaust, they may regard as an isolated
it
phenomenon, and do not learn that many such incidents of intentional mass killings have occurred all
over the world and throughout history. Genocides in the modern era have often been sanctioned by
specific governments and based on ideologies that legitimize prejudice and violence. It is important
that students have factual knowledge about these issues, and that they understand how other govern-
ments, organizations, and individuals work to preserve and protect human rights. It is also important
that students understand how genocides and other human rights violations have contributed to immi-
gration patterns in history. Learning about the history of genocides can lead the Commonwealth's
students to understand the histories of the families in their schools, communities, and in the nation as
a whole.
This Guide to Choosing and Using Curricular Materials on Genocide and Human Rights Issues
offers recommendations for locating and selecting curriculum materials on genocide and human rights
issues, and guidelines for the teaching of such materials. It is to be used in conjunction with the
Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, in particular those for History and Social Science and En-
glish Language Arts, both published in 1997. Excerpts from those frameworks appear throughout this
Guide; the full text of each framework is available on the Massachusetts Department of Education's
website, http://www.doe.mass.edu/
.
Particular genocide and human rights issues are explicitly listed as areas for study in the History and
Social Science Framework, which presents "academic content and skills in the four areas of History,
Geography, Economics, and Civics and Government that are essential to the study of human experi-
ence past and present, and to the development of educated and responsible citizens." Academic
content pertinent to these issues is excerpted in this Guide, beginning on page 7.
The Massachusetts Guide to Choosing and Using Curricular Materials on Genocide and Human Rights - June 1999
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Background: The Education Reform Act of 1993
Since the passage ofthe Education Reform Act of 1 993, the Massachusetts Board and Department of
Education, with the assistance of teachers, administrators, and scholars, have produced curriculum
frameworks in the Arts, English Language Arts, Foreign Languages, Health, History and Social Sci-
ence, Mathematics, and Science and Technology. These frameworks are guides for the development
of coherent and sequential programs of curriculum, instruction, and assessments in public elemen-
tary, middle, and high schools, and Adult Basic Education programs.
All of the frameworks are organized in the same way. Each presents a Core Concept and Guiding
Principles for the organization of effective academic programs, followed by Strands and Learning
Standards that specify what students should know and be able to do at various grade levels. In
addition, the History and Social Science Framework includes a Core Knowledge section. Chrono-
logically organized, this section presents the core of major topics in world and United States history.
The Core Knowledge topics are elaborated in greater detail in a section called Commonly Taught
Subtopics.
The curriculum frameworks are the basis for the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System
(MCAS), a mandated annual statewide testing program for students in the Commonwealth's public
elementary, middle, and high schools. Information on this testing program, including released ques-
tions and data on student performance, is available on the Massachusetts Department of Education's
website, http://www.doe.mass.edu/
.
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Teaching about Genocide and Human Rights Issues: Guiding Principles
selected from the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks
Curriculum, instruction, and classroom assessment about genocide and human rights issues should
be based on factual content aligned with the material in the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks.
These issues need to be integrated into a sequential PreK-12 academic program, planned collaboratively
by teachers from elementary, middle and high schools in each district. In the interest of helping
teachers incorporate this material into their work with students, this Guide quotes six Guiding Prin-
ciples, three from the History and Social Science Framework, and three from the English Language
Arts Framework. The text beneath the Principles explains why these are particularly pertinent to the
teaching of genocide and human rights issues.
History and Social Science: Guiding Principle 4
An effective history and social science curriculum recognizes each person as an individual,
encourages respect forthe human and civil rights of all people, and also emphasizes students'
shared heritage as citizens, residents, and future citizens of the United States.
In the study of genocide and human rights issues, students and their teachers confront some of the
most difficult and dreadful aspects of human behavior: hatred, prejudice, cruelty, suffering, legalized
discrimination, and mass murder. The study of episodes such as the Armenian Genocide and the
Holocaust often causes students and teachers to question why such atrocities occurred, whether they
could occur elsewhere, and how they might be prevented. Through a balanced study of history's
repeated incidents of human rights violations, students learn about questions of ethics, political and
religious philosophies regarding human rights, the importance of personal responsibility, and the role
of the individual in creating and sustaining democratic institutions.
Students should learn about the role of governments and international organizations in setting stan-
dards for human rights, and about the barriers to enforcing human rights legislation and voluntary
compacts. Appendices A, B, and C present excerpts from some important documents that were
written for the purpose of preserving and protecting human rights, and which are part of students'
"shared heritage." Included here are selections from the United States Declaration of Independence,
the Constitution, Bill of Rights and subsequent Amendments dealing with human rights, the United
Nations Declaration of Universal Human Rights, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
the Child.
History and Social Science: Guiding Principle 5
An effective curriculum in history and social science draws on and integrates several disci-
plines and fields of study.
As students encounter events that involve human rights issues in the history curriculum, they should
be taught to examine these complex issues using a variety of critical lenses and methods. They
should develop the skills that will enable them to frame series of questions, such as how philosophies
may have affected governmental decisions, how economic forces may have shaped consequences,
and how factors of geography may have contributed to events. For example, in researching the
causes and consequences of the Irish Hunger Period, students might examine the geography and
natural resources of Ireland, political relations and trade between Ireland and Britain, the impact of
social and economic philosophies of the period, and ways in which massive Irish emigration affected
the culture and economy of the United States in the 19h century.
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History and Social Science: Guiding Principle 6
The historical narrative should provide the continuous setting for learning in social science,
as well as the frame of reference from which teachers choose the current events and public
policy issues for student study, presentations, and classroom discussion.
The History and Social Science Framework recommends a chronological approach to the teaching of
history, and encourages teachers to help students make conceptual connections by selecting signifi-
cant topics from current events that relate to past events. For example, knowledge of the specific
historical circumstances of the transatlantic slave trade can help students understand the conse-
quences of slavery as a social institution, and the importance of the ongoing movements for human
and civil rights in the United States and other countries around the world. Teachers need to make sure
that human rights issues are taughtwithin a logical historical sequence, rather than as isolated events.
English Language Arts: Guiding Principle 3
An effective English language arts curriculum draws on literature from many genres, time
periods, and cultures, featuring works that reflect our common literary heritage
Students' understanding ofhuman responses to genocide and human rights issues is deepened through
their reading of literature, and their exposure to other works of art that express feelings and ideas
about the human condition and the human spirit. The English Language Arts Framework includes a
list of recommended authors who have written eloquently about their own experiences, about in-
stances of oppression, and about attempts to create a more just society. Among these are Anne
Frank, Elie Wiesel, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Seamus Heaney, Derek Walcott, Frederick Douglass,
Martin Luther King, Jr., Maya Angelou, and William Saroyan.
English Language Arts: Guiding Principle 7
An effective English language arts curriculum teaches the strategies necessary for acquiring
academic knowledge, achieving common academic standards, and attaining independence in
learning.
Students need to develop a repertoire of learning strategies for reading, research, and writing that
they consciously practice and apply in increasingly demanding contexts. These skills and strategies
are of particular use when students and their teachers deal with complex issues that call for close
evaluation, critical thinking, and analysis. Curriculum units dealing with genocide and human rights
issues should include opportunities for students to develop, clarify, and communicate their ideas in
writing, discussion, and oral or media presentations.
English Language Arts: Guiding Principle 10
While encouraging respect for differences in home backgrounds, an effective English lan-
guage arts curriculum nurtures students' sense of their common ground in order to prepare
them for responsible participation in our schools and civic life.
Massachusetts public schools educate students of diverse racial, ethnic, and religious groups. Taking
advantage of this diversity, teachers carefully choose literature and guide discussions about the vari-
ety of peoples around the world and their different beliefs, stories, and traditions. At the same time,
they help students discover common ground in humanitarian issues.
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